An Heir To Spare
by Clydelives
Summary: The Harry Potter series from a different P.O.V. Meet Clyde: A shy girl who was placed in Slytherin, raised in a series of foster homes, and a complete wreck because of her nerves. This starts with Year 1, and will end in 7. OC Formerly 'From Start To End'
1. Introuction

"Hmm. . . You really could go into either. Honestly, you look like a good candidate for all of the houses. You have the brains needed for Ravenclaw. The ambition of a Slytherin, plus the nobility. I can also see that your bravery is outstanding, which suits someone from Gryffindor. And of course, anyone can get into Huffelpuff." There was a slight snigger, "Don't tell them that I said that."

"Please," I kept my voice small so that the entire school would not be able to hear me, "please make a good decision."

"SLYTHERIN!" The sorting hat's voice boomed throughout the Great Hall.

Across the room, the entire Slytherin table erupted into applause. Even though this was the customary response to the sorting, I still felt a scarlet blush spread to my ears. I glanced up to see the boy who was called before me smiling. His hair was so blonde that it bordered on having the absence of color. What was his name? Draco something. . . Malfoy! That was it; Draco Malfoy.

After a minute of shuffling towards the table, I finally found a seat at the long table. The rest of the sorting went pretty fast, I was mostly concentrating on blending in with the walls. Professor Dumbledore gave a short speech. He talked about rules, he talked about responsibility, and he gave stern warnings to anyone who dared to break the rules. There was no way I would ever need that warning, which would be way too much attention on me.

Two Perfects dressed in green and silver robes guided the first years to the common room entrance.

"Everyone: quiet down!" The boy Perfect raised his voice to a dull roar, and the skittish first years quickly silenced themselves. "Something that Dumbledore forgot to mention is that this is a SECRET!" The last word was bellowed for dramatic effect. "No one and I repeat: no one is to tell another person/centaur/creature/ghost where our dormitory can be found. Do you understand?" A full round of enthusiastic nodding and mumbling surfaced from the first years. Draco seemed to be the only person who was nonplussed by all of this. He leaned in a bit closer to some buffoon next to him and whispered something. I assume it was a joke, for the oaf laughed so hard that in a moment all eyes were on him.

After an awkward silence, we finally entered the dorm. The Perfect girl continued to stay silent, but waved all of the new female students upstairs.

"Well here we are. Now, let's sort out these beds!" Out of seemingly no where she drew out a piece of parchment and read aloud some names. "Alana Aberhad you will be sleeping in that bed." And last of all, she came to my name: "Clyde Malkiv, you get the last bed."

As I set my things down, the girl Alana came over. "Look," she started speaking in a breathy whisper, "I have to ask. What is with your name? Clyde?"

"Clyde can be a girl's name too." My mumbled reply didn't satisfy the Alana's curiosity and she briskly walked away. After eleven years, I was completely used to people wondering about my name. The truth is, and I've never told anyone this, my parents were so disappointed that I was a girl that they kept the boys name for me. Every day it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, me being a girl had something to do with my situation at home.

Finally all of the excitement about being here died down, and everyone lapsed into a deep sleep.

The first thing I woke up to a loud shriek from a girl named Millicent, "Ahh! I'm going to be late!" I rolled over in bed to see the clock. Its silver filigree hands pointed to about six o'clock. And below the center, in cursive writing, it said 'Double Potions With Gryffindor, In One And A Half Hours.' With that, I rolled out of bed to begin my first ay at Hogwarts. For a moment though, I stopped to imagine what my Muggle foster parents were doing:

They would be sitting at the tattered yellow breakfast table wondering how the girl they were in the process of adopting was a witch. How Clyde, the unremarkable girl at the orphanage, had been whisked away to a school for magic. It was anything but unremarkable. My soon to be parents understood though, and for that I was more grateful then anything.

That's what brought the smile to my lips as I prepared for Potions.


	2. Chapter 2

Potions class seemed pretty foreboding. Professor Snape gave a chilling look of disgust to the first years.

"Undoubtedly, you all think that this is an unimportant class. However, potions are the most difficult and essential part of magic. This leads me to give you one warning: pay attention as if your life depended on it, one day it might." The professor's voice was hollow with disinterest.

The rest of the class passed full of minor meltdowns. Another first year, I think his name was Neville, managed to melt his cauldron. The rest of the day passed with much fewer problems. It was just like the first day at any of the many Muggle schools I went to while I was in foster care. Each professor would explain his/her rules, expectations, and reasons why this was the most important class. It all sort of blended together.

By the last class of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Quirrel, I hadn't spoken more then twelve words. And then by then end of D.A.D.A., it had only been seventeen words. The last five were mumbled to Quirrel, "Clyde IS a girl's name."

I dropped my book bag off at the Slytherin common room and headed towards dinner. This became my habit for the next couple of months. There was never a day when I spoke over a hundred words, and most of them would be spell incantations.

Halloween pushed itself forwards and I found myself being pulled to the feast. Alana, another first year in Slytherin, was looking me dead in the eye, "You have to come." Her voice was even and serious, "This is, like, super important! You're only going to be here for seven years! Puh-lease!" Alana's voice had strayed from the serious into the whining, but she won me over.

"Okay, but this better be an amazing feast." The sentence broke through the hundred words for the day.

"Eeek!" Alana gave a little shriek, "I'm happy you're coming!" I wasn't exactly sure why she was so happy about me coming. But it might have had something to do with the fact that I never stopped her from spilling her life's confessions to me during classes. Honestly, I just didn't have the courage to tell her to shut up. My fear of dislike from others had finally come in handy.

At the feast, it occurred to me that Alana was almost as invisible as I am. For the first time Alana asked about me, compared to her normal rattling about the hundreds of minor issues going on in her life. "Well? What's your story?"

"Um. . . Well I grew up in the U.S.," There was a slight gasp from Alana at this, but I continued; "I got bounced around from foster home to foster home. Then an owl came. Now I'm here." Alana opened her mouth to question me some more, but before she could speak the D.A.D.A professor burst through the door.

"Th-There's a tr-t-troll in the scho-school. Just th-ouh-thought you-you'd like to kn-know." He immediately fainted. The school administrators jumped into action. Within an instant students were being ushered out of the great hall. Hundreds of students pushed through the doors, trying to secure safety for themselves. I couldn't force myself past the crowds, and I fell to the end of the group. No one seemed to notice.

With no one noticing where I was, I somehow ended up near the girl's bathroom. Harry Potter and two other Gryffindors (I'm pretty sure their names were Ron and Hermione…) burst out of the bathroom. More teachers gathered around the small room, I slid behind a pillar to hide. Professor Snape's cold and un-endearing voice could be heard from my hiding spot. As usual he was describing how despicable Potter was. I decided that this might be the best time to slip away.

As quietly as possible, I slipped through the hallway. I don't blame Snape for hating that Star-Kid-Potter. From what I've heard he is always seeking glory and attention. The other Slytherins also seemed to think lowly of him. Although I was raised by Muggles, I had still heard about his incredible story. It was an undeniable fact that the Wizarding world, and my happiness at Hogwarts, was all due to Harry Potter. Lately though, it seemed like he was only here to show off. Hearing stories from Draco, it almost sounded like Harry orchestrated every spot of trouble he was in so that he could escape it as a hero.

From the looks of things though, it seemed like Harry had just beaten the troll. Maybe Draco wasn't the all knowing authority on this one.

There was a split second when I wondered why I was sent to Slytherin. So far, I didn't really fit in. Most of my fellow Slytherins loved to talk about their ambitions, goals, and plans to succeed in life. I, to the contrary, have never really spoken. To anyone. Tonight's conversation with Alana seemed to be the longest I've had all year.

I walked into the Slytherin common room, and gazed up at the banner with the Slytherin seal. With luck, the Sorting Hat's magic wouldn't be wrong this time.

**A/N: This is my first fan fiction. I'm hoping that it will turn out well. Either way, please review! Even if you didn't like the story, I want to know why. Thanks!**

**-Clyde Anna**


	3. Chapter 3

After Halloween, I noticed that Professor Snape was limping. His heavy black robes concealed some sort of wound on his leg. I almost asked him about it, twice, but I lost my nerve each time. I wondered, for a moment, how other students dealt with their heads of houses. No one in Slytherin would ever consider talking to Snape about personal problems, but everyone knew that he would stand up for them in the end.

One day at breakfast, I noticed something peculiar. As Professor Snape entered the Great Hall, Professor Quirrel flinched violently. The same seemed to happen as Harry entered the Hall. Once the troll had gotten past Quirrel, he seemed to have lost his nerve. Quirrel's already bad stutter had turned into a drum roll at the beginning of each word.

Harry, however, seemed to be more and more confident after his encounter with the troll. During Double Potions class, Harry would sit there defiantly. He rarely produced a good potion, and to the Slytherins it looked like he was doing it out of spite.

Meanwhile, I was quickly becoming a hard core fan of Quidditch. Since I grew up in the U.S., and away from the Wizarding World, Quidditch was a whole new world of excitement and danger. With only one lesson on a broomstick, and a halted lesson at that, I was no where near good enough to even day dream about being on any Quidditch team. Yet somehow, I was lucky enough to be in the House with the best team around. No one had beaten us for years, and Slytherin was to prideful to let anyone steal the spotlight.

Thoughts of Quidditch took over my thoughts as I wandered through the Hogwarts Halls. I looked up to see that I was standing in one of the many girls bathrooms. This one looked worn down, and musty. Then, after a moment of silence, there was a loud wailing that came forth from a stall. It shocked me, and I fell towards the sinks. My hand reached up, and I grasped something. There was a moment of panic, and the wailing continued.

I took a breath, and regained my composure. Then it occurred to me to look at what I had grabbed. There was a raised engraving on the sink. It was a snake, coiled up. As I ran my fingers over it, the snake moved and twisted. The snake seemed to be moving towards my fingers, desperate for attention. I scratched his head, and the snake flicked his tongue out. Suddenly, the wailing stopped. Out floated a portly girl with round glasses.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Her voice bellowed through the porcelain walls.

"I-um…I ha-need to go." My voice was giving out, and I stumbled out of the room.

For the remaining months of the school year, I furiously avoided that bathroom. The ghost in there seemed angrier than Peeves during a celebration.

The last day of school arrived, and somehow everyone knew about the on goings of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The Sorcerers Stone was to be broken, and every one of the Slytherins seemed to be in a despair. The only thoughts that pulled us to the feast was the fact Slytherin had once again kept the Quidditch Cup, and the House Cup.

That was until Dumbledore broke the news. We lost. In the silver lining, I had ended up sitting next to Draco Malfoy. He leaned over and whispered to me, "Hey, come sit with me on the train ride back to London." It was more of an order then a request, but I still nodded.

Our compartment on the Hogwarts Express was the smallest one towards the back of the train. Draco looked me dead evening the eye and said, "Is it true? You grew up with Muggles?!"

"Oh, that's why you wanted to talk to me. Yeah, it's true."

"Then, well, how'd you get into Slytherin? I mean, no offense, but Slytherin is for purebloods only. No mudbloods, obviously." Draco said the word 'mudbloods' as if it was a bug that he was trying to spit out of his mouth.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I always thought it had something to do with snakes. But the Sorting Hat said I would have been perfect for any of the houses. Draco shook his head, his blonde hair fell out of place a bit.

"I'm gonna go now, if that's all you wanted to talk about." I left Draco, he was still shaking his head in disbelief.

**A/N: Hello readers! Thanks for reading my story, and I hope you like it. Please read and review, I am super curios to know what you think. Also, I finally have an idea for what direction I want this to go in. Oh, and as a disclaimer: I do not own any of Harry Potter or anything else written by J.K. Rowling. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N This is pretty much a filler chapter for the summer between year one and two of Hogwarts. The whole point of this chapter is to show Clyde's character when she is not at school. Anyways, it isn't really a plot essential. But Pleas read anyways! **

It took a total of fourteen hours before I reached home. Those fourteen hours included coach airline seats, crying babies, and sleazy teenage guys. But it was worth it. I had missed the Muggle life. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that I am a witch; but sometimes it was just difficult to adjust.

As soon as I stepped off the plane, I was bombarded with hugs. It wasn't long ago that the adoption had been finalized. And then a month later, I received the owl from Hogwarts. Luckily, they had been supportive.

Before the owl, I had no idea that there was anything different about me. All that I knew was I had no family. Something had gone terribly wrong, and I was put tossed aside. With only my name, I have spent my life wondering what really happened. Is my real family dead? Did I just disappoint them to much? Now some new questions had started popping up: Were they wizards? Am I a pureblood? Is there a way to tell? If Hogwarts is a British school, why was I accepted? After all, I live in the U.S. And why did they name me Clyde?! I mean, c'mon. . . Deep down I was a little ashamed of my name, after all it is a boy's name.

"Oh Clyde! We're so happy to see you!" My new mother, Rachel, was brimming with joy.

"Hi. . .Mom." I smiled, it was still odd to say mom.

"And what about me? No hello for your father?" Dad, or Larry, was standing a few inches behind Rachel.

"Hello Father dear." By this point, I was grinning from ear to ear.

"Good, I'm glad we got that sorted away. Now c'mon! Let's go! Home is waiting!" Dad stepped back and waved for us to follow. Mom quickly grabbed my bag and my hand as she dragged me along also. Man, it felt good to be home.

Once at home I flopped down on our faux leather couch, and tried not o think about all of the summer work that I had to do.

There was a knock at the door, and it pulled me away from my depressing thoughts of essays.

"Hello?" I answered the door timidly.

"Clyde!" Before I could speak, Matt had already grabbed me for a hug. He stepped back, and I noticed that Matt had definitely grown since last time we had hung out. Last year, at the end of school he had been at least two inches shorter than me: now I barely came up to his nose. "Wanna hang out?" He looked eager to catch up with me.

"Yeah, sure. Just a sec." I stepped into the kitchen, "Mom? I'm gonna go hang out with Matt for a bit. Is that okay?"

"Of course, just be home for dinner!"

Matt and I quickly left the house, and began strolling down the street.

"Sooo. . ." I wasn't quite sure how to start the conversation. Matt has always been my best friend, but it has been a year since I last saw him.

"I'm sorry I missed your twelfth birthday. But did get something." He looked me in the eye and flashed me one of his award winning smiles, "Here; I thought you would like it." From his jacket pocket Matt pulled out a battered book. '_The Complete Brigadier Gerard'_ By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

"Ohmigosh! Thank you so much!" Matt was the only person who knew about my deep love of everything Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. "I'm sorry, I forgot to get you something."

"It's no big deal." Another smile came my way, but I still felt bad for not getting him anything.

We stopped walking, arriving at the swings of an old playground.

"So, how was your year?" Again, I tried to break the silence.

"Pretty good. Although, it was lame now that my friend was gone. But you knew it would be like that. How was your fancy private school in England?" Immediately a blush spread from to the tips of my ears. It was really difficult to lie to my best friend.

"Oh, you know…Well…" I was trying to stall, and unsuccessful. Matt was still staring at me with curious eyes, "Honestly? It is pretty lonely. I don't quite fit in. And I stand out like a sore thumb because of my accent." The last part came out rather quickly, almost in one breath.

We continued talking, and it almost felt like I had never left. Nothing had changed. That is, until I noticed how late I was about to be.

"Gringotts! I have to go!" I ran off, trying to get home before Mom realized that was I late.

Matt was left there mumbling, "What the hell is a Gringotts?" By the time Matt had said that, I was already 100 feet away.

*************

I was out of breath by the time I reached the large blue house that was now my home.

"There you are!" Dad was sitting on the porch, smoking. Mom must have finally put her foot down on him smoking in the house. He threw down the cigarette and stomped on it. "Let's go get some dinner."

We all sat around the dinner table. There was a few moments of silence, and then the real questions started. It was obvious that they had been waiting to ask me this since this afternoon.

"What exactly did you learn?" Mom started off the mild interrogation.

"Was it difficult?" Dad followed up.

"Can you use _magic_ at home?"

"Whoa there! Let me answer the questions first! Let's see: My classes were Potions, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Care Of Magical Creatures, Herbology, I had a few flying lessons, and History of Magic. Potions is my favorite though. It is taught by the head of my dorm. Which is Slytherin." I saw that I was not making sense, so I started to explain to my parents, "There are four dorms, also called Houses, at Hogwarts. Each House is known for certain qualities, and my House is Slytherin. Usually they are ambitious." Finally, I was making sense to my Muggle Parents. "Yeah, so it really wasn't too bad. No one really notices me, so that makes the classes easier. And lastly, no; I can't use magic until I am seventeen." I paused for a moment, "Anything else?"

The rest of dinner was spent answering questions about Hogwarts life. After the hour and a half dinner, my parents had finally gotten the idea of what it was like for me during the school year. And they even were excited to receive owls.

******************

Summer break went by way too quickly. Somehow I managed to finish all of the essays that were required. I still don't know how it happened. My days had been spent hanging out with Matt, and my nights were spent rereading text books. About a week ago, I wrote into the shops at Diagon Alley. Within two days I had all of my new books.

Now I was sitting on another fourteen hour plane ride to England, and to the Hogwarts Express. My nerves had struck me worse than ever today, all I kept thinking about was whether or not I would be able to keep up with the other students in class.

Finally, I reached Platform 9 ¾ . As usual, I sat towards the back. The train started towards Hogwarts, and I started reading my textbooks just one more time to make sure I was ready for the school year.

**A/N: So thanks you to everyone who reviewd. Although I wish I could have replied to most of them. I hope this chapter clears up any questions about her past. Although, it really just asks more questions. But I promise I have a great reason for why she was accepted to Hogwarts even though Clyde (the charater) lives in the U.S.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So this is a short chapter. It is just the beginning of the second year. **

The train had just begun, to move forward when I pulled out my book. I was already captivated when there was a knock at the compartment door. I glanced up to see Draco Malfoy and his usual gang, Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy, had already come into the compartment.

"Hey, Clive-"

"Clyde" I corrected Draco before he could continue.

"What ever." He continued anyways, "I found something you might find interesting." Malfoy smirked a little, and then pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket. Draco's pale hand shoved it towards me. I glanced over it.

'_The tree should be white and the same substance of a patronus . . .' _ The torn page continued on to describe a spell.

"Well? Wanna try it?" Draco's voice interrupted my reading of the paper.

"What exactly is it?" My voice quavered a little bit.

Pansy snickered, "Idiot. It is so we- I mean you- you can see how much of a pure blood you are!" She rolled her eyes, trying to look as exasperated as possible. Although, it was pretty obvious that she was brimming with as much curiosity as I was. "Here, show her how it works Drakie."

Draco pulled out a small pocket knife, and made a small cut on his palm. A few drops of blood spilled onto the seat. He then drew out his wand and spoke the incantation, "Arborialis familias!" For a moment it looked like the spell hadn't worked. Then a thin tree sprouted from the blood. Rather than looking solid, it looked like the ghost of a tree. Another 45 seconds passed before the tree stopped growing. It was around two feet tall, rooted right to the seat of the train.

Draco looked very pleased. His normally pale face had lit up with pride. I glanced down at the torn page again, '_Most family trees of a modern wizarding family are one foot tall, for throughout history it was become more and more common to marry into Muggle families.'_

"Your turn." Draco's pale eyes were staring me down.

"Fine, I'll do it." I really wasn't succumbing to peer pressure, I just wanted to know. Crabbe and Goyle exchanged confused looks. Pansy took my hand, without any care, and held it face up. Draco looked excited as he brandished the two inch pocket knife. I wince for a moment as he made the cut. Three dark drops of blood spilled onto the floor.

Draco took a deep breath, and then once again said the incantation. "Arborialis familias." This time there was an immediate effect. The tree that grew this time was not transparent and ghostlike, instead it was strong and solid white. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a few minutes, the tree stopped spreading its branches. There was no way it could have been smaller than four feet tall. There was nothing for me to do but gasp, so I did.

"Draco!" Pansy's shrill voice interrupted the silence, "Her blood is bluer than yours!" Silence descended as Draco, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle all stared at me. Never, in my years of foster care and being the new kid in schools, had I felt like such a freak.

"Um. Well, yeah. That solves it. Looks like I'm not Muggle-born. I guess the Sorting Hat picked right on this one. So. Anyone looking forward to who the new DADA teacher is? Yeah, does anyone have a Band-Aid? You know, never mind. I'll be fine." I had started to ramble on and on. My family tree had started to fade away, but was still standing there

"Anyone want something to eat?" Thank goodness, the food cart had interrupted he silence. Crabbe and Goyle literally jumped at the chance to eat something sweet.

Malfoy sneered and looked like he was about to be sick. "Let me try this again!" I didn't stop Draco as he grabbed my hand and performed the spell again, with the same results.

"I heard that you grew up with Muggles though! Clyde, be honest this time." Pansy was staring at me with an angry expression.

"But I did! Listen, I have no idea about my family. I grew up in foster homes and orphanages. Muggle home, I didn't lie before, and I'm not now."

There was an awkward silence for the rest of the trip to Hogwarts. Draco was brooding about not being the purest wizard here anymore. Pansy tried to make him feel better, by cooing and fawning over him. It wasn't working and was making me a bit sick. Crabbe and Goyle resorted to playing magic card games.

I shuffled into the Great Hall, and quickly got away from Draco and his gang.

While I was trying not to be seen, Alana found me. "Clyde!" Her high pitched voice carried through the hall, "There you are!" She scurried towards me, with a determined look on her pointy face. "I looked for you all over the Hogwarts Express. Were you even on it?"

"Yeah, I was." Alana looked dubious, but didn't contradict me.

Anyways, we moved towards the tables and sat down for the feast. Everything was presented in the usual Hogwarts splendor. The feast was filled with amazing pies, meats, and every type of food imaginable.

Dumbledore gave his usual speech, welcoming the new and returning students. I was excited to be back at school, but already I was wishing that I could talk to Matt again.

Thoughts, and hopes, about the new school year swirled as the feast began to die down.

Finally we were released to our common rooms, and I noticed that the green tinged room for seemed like even more of a home then my new home back in the U.S. It was good to be back.

**A/N: Well did you guys like it? Let me know!**


End file.
